Sweden's COVID-19 death toll tops 10,000

Sweden's COVID-19 death toll surpassed 10,000 on Thursday, with authorities warning that the fatalities would continue to rise, reported Xinhua.

Swedish Public Health Agency on Thursday registered another 351 deaths caused by COVID-19, taking the national death toll to 10,185. Meanwhile, 6,580 new confirmed cases brought the cumulative infections to 518,783.

"Unfortunately, we expect that the increase will continue as we have an extensive spread of infection in the country," Karin Tegmark Wisell, head of the department of microbiology at the Public Health Agency, said at a press conference.

Wisell revealed that southern Swedish regions were "worst affected" with a rate above the national average. The Skane region bordering Denmark, for instance, has 1,272 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Wisell urged the public to strictly abide by the national recommendations and restrictions.

Sweden on Friday introduced a series of tougher restrictions, including a maximum limit for private events. The new rules allow a maximum of eight people at private events in, for example, a party room, while indoor venues such as gyms, bathhouses and shops will also have strict capacity limitations.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven had said measures of closing down department stores and malls could kick in if the risk of infections is considered high and existing restrictions deemed insufficient.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in Sweden and some other countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 236 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Jan. 12.